Posts: 346
Joined: 5/13/2003 From: In a van, down by the river.Status: offline

Two quick comments and a question, now that this post is once again active.

1) Thanks for the “heads up” on what it takes to increase your OP-fire. I didn’t know that before, and that must be what Viking does. I swear, the enemy could run in columns at my hidden units, shouting through megaphones, with strobe lights on them, and my troops wouldn’t OP-fire. I move a sniper set to defend and range zero 2 hexes and a 3” AT gun 12 hexes away spots and engages him. :mad: ;)

2) I believe the point at which a vehicle will explode from non-penetrating hits may have something to do with ALL of the “Vulnerable Location”s being hit. For example, radio masts broken, gun optics gone, tool box shot to bits, on and on… Once the computer can no longer find an area on the vehicle to apply a “critical hit”, it may well apply them to the vehicle itself. I do also know that once the last crewman is killed in a vehicle, it’ll explode (at least my observations seem to bear that one out).

And now the question:

If I’m not mistaken, having a recon team ride on a vehicle allows that recon asset to spot from that vehicle. In other words, when a 2-man scout team is riding on an M-4 for example, the M-4 gains their “recon” bonus when spotting. Is this correct?

[I]EDIT[/I}:

OK, I wasn’t quite honest, I thought of one more addition, so it’s THREE comments and ONE question :)

A tip on keeping hidden for MGs especially. Turn off that damned little rifle! My DshK 12.7mm HMGs can now fire somewhat inconspicuously with the rifles turned off. Same with MG 42s, etc. When the enemy’s close, or once you’re spotted, you might want to flip them back on.

I’m sure many of you already do this, but just thought I’d share it for other “n00bs” like me.

I'm guessing here, but my feeling has been that when you mount infantry/recon on a tank the spotting from that infantry/recon isn't really good because the tank is moving fast. (You get much better recon out of your recon units if they don't move more than a couple of hexes.) Too many times I've just had the recon shot off the tank by a unit I didn't spot. My strategy has been to drop the recon off a hex or two before I stop the tank - it gives them a chance to survive and spot any fire the tank takes on the next turn. Also they can move a hex or two and remount the tank on the next turn if need be. More than anything I try not to let the tanks get ahead of my infantry - if I can use the recon as leg units before I send the tank out I do. (Drive the recon up to a hex that isn't spotted, dismount and wait. Next turn, move your recon out into the open where you want your tank to go. If it doen'st take any fire, and you don't spot anything nasty, follow up with your tank, pick up the recon, and drive across the open to the next hidden spot.) I tend to do this stuff with my half-track infantry as well - if your halftrack has to get shot-up, it's better if your infantry squads are in a nearby hex. If one takes fire, then the half-tracks can respond with their MG's from a different hex than the infantry fires from.

Your tip about turning the rifle off on the MG's is a good one, I'll have to start using that. As someone else already mentioned, I almost always turn the rifles on my AT guns off.

Posts: 346
Joined: 5/13/2003 From: In a van, down by the river.Status: offline

One word of caution in dropping units off moving vehicles. When you drop a unit out of a HT, for example, it will retain the movement speed of the vehicle at the time at which it was dropped off. I've seen AT guns dropped by their fast-moving HTs get hit by my MGs and take heavy losses.

I think MGs (and possibly other weapons as well) get bonuses based on how fast the infantry target is running/moving. If they're moving at 21mph because of a HT drop-off, they may be in a world of hurt.

I fear dropping them then moving any vehicle forward of them unaccompanied because of my own prior experiences. Someone wrote somewhere on the board (and I laughed out loud when I read it) that "when you're considering moving that tank one last hex, don't!!!".

You're right - "speed kills" as Cpt. Pixel said. And you are right about moving that last hex. The thing is that too many times I haven't dropped them off, and then when the tank gets fired on they are either killed or too supressed to be any good. If they get dropped in a nearby hex, there is a good chance that the tank will attract the op fire (and hopefully survive) and that the leg unit will (hopefully) spot where the fire is coming from. I guess a lot of this would depend on what kind of fire you are expecting to take, too. No sense leaving your leg unit with the tank if you think there are AT guns out there, and no sense dismounting your infantry from a HT if you think you are facing only other infantry or MMG's. Also, infantry are better left in a HT during a bombardment - if the HT gets hit they are hurt, but otherwise they do a lot better.

Also, I seem to have pretty good luck knocking tank riders off their tanks with some long-distance MG fire - even get casualties quite often. I am not convinced that being moving and mounted is any better than being moving and dismounted.

If I can, I like to end my movement unspotted. If I can't do that - like when I'm making a charge - then I try to leave a whole bunch of units out in the open scattered in different hexes, hopefully able to spot and cover for each other. Terribly bloody, but I haven't found a better way. I really hate desert battles - this is where I have to do this stuff a lot.

Hope this stuff makes sense. I know I'm not the biggest pro here - I will appreciate any feedback that is offered on these ideas.

Infantry riders, when dismounted, will be moving faster than the vehicle was due to the way infantry speeds are handled. That's nice to you when you can spot the enemy doing that, because as the manual states, the faster infantry is moving the more vulnerable it is. Which leads to...

Mines!! Do a defensive scenario, and deploy well behind the start line. We're talking 5-10 hexes. Put mines 2 hexes in front of your units, and make it 3-deep of 20-point mine hexes. This gives the enemy a long leadup to build up speed (which makes them less likely to spot mines and more likely to hit them), but also gives them "6 hexes" of mines to have to cross--they WILL eventually set them off. Also, set your units' opfire to 0. End your turn. Actually, make it 2-player, and you control the other side. Ladeedaa, move some infantry (even cavalry!) over the mines. KABOOM!! Now check their speed.

In the Long WWII I've been playing off and on, I've set up minefields and seen enemy infantry moving at 150mph!!:eek: :eek: :eek: That gives me at least 2 casualties when I fire with an MG and hit. Then they might flee, hit another mine, and be back up to a good 90mph... for another burst, muwahahaha!

Great tips. I've found that setting crewed weapons-MGs, AT guns, IGs etc... dug in on elevations higher than the approaching enemy units(the higher the better), and set at "0" range, score more hits when they fire-especially if the approaching units have already been observed by the units dug in. Approaching enemy infantry, if in open terrain, suffers greatly when exposed to fire from MGs at high elevations>15+. AVs taking fire from AT guns at 15+ suffer like effects if at 0 elevation. Another thing I've noticed is that AAA seems more effective if put at elevation. A question I have is for you more experienced players is if you set your AAA at 0, does it restrict its range at which it will engage enemy aircraft? What is the best way to deploy AAA units to umbrella your deployment? Is it correct to assume by placing AAA in front of your units they'll be engaged before they begin laying their ugly eggs. Advice welcome.